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Wind and Structures
  Volume 34, Number 2, February 2022 (Special Issue) pages 199-213
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/sss.2022.34.2.199
 


Aeroelastic testing of a self-supported transmission tower under laboratory simulated tornado-like vortices
Nima Ezami, Ashraf El Damatty, Ahmed Hamada and Horia Hangan

 
Abstract
    The current study investigates the dynamic effects in the tornado-structure response of an aeroelastic self-supported lattice transmission tower model tested under laboratory simulated tornado-like vortices. The aeroelastic model is designed for a geometric scale of 1:65 and tested under scaled down tornadoes in the Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment (WindEEE) Research Institute. The simulated tornadoes have a similar length scale of 1:65 compared to the full-scale. An extensive experimental parametric study is conducted by offsetting the stationary tornado center with respect to the aeroelastic model. Such aeroelastic testing of a transmission tower under laboratory tornadoes is not reported in the literature. A multiaxial load cell is mounted underneath the base plate to measure the base shear forces and overturning moments applied to the model in three perpendicular directions. A three-axis accelerometer is mounted at the level of the second cross-arm to measure response accelerations to evaluate the natural frequencies through a free-vibration test. Radial, tangential, and axial velocity components of the tornado wind field are measured using cobra probes. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to assess the variation of the structural dynamic response associated with the location of the tornado relative to the lattice transmission tower. Three different layouts representing the change in the orientation of the tower model relative to the components of the tornado-induced loads are considered. The structural responses of the aeroelastic model in terms of base shear forces, overturning moments, and lateral accelerations are measured. The results are utilized to understand the dynamic response of self-supported transmission towers to the tornado-induced loads.
 
Key Words
    aeroelastic; dynamic analysis; response spectrum; tornado; transmission tower; wind
 
Address
Nima Ezami:Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

Ashraf El Damatty:Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

Ahmed Hamada:Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

Horia Hangan:WindEEE Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
 

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